Sunday, April 13, 2008

Bread Talks

A foreigner reading this sign will be puzzled by Singapore's much vaunted educational standards. The sign reads deceptively correct, but students of English grammar will cringe. We never write that there is 1 bread or 2 breads, rather we write "1 loaf of bread or 2 loaves" of bread. However, in case of smaller items of bread such as buns, we do write, "1 bun or 2 buns". Remember 'Hot cross Buns'? Breads is used when you write 'types of breads', not otherwise.

Of course, practical people couldn't care less about the finer points of grammar. They understand what the sign means - a good bargain - and that's all they need to know, proper grammar notwithstanding.



p.s. I have written before, elsewhere, on this same subject, if you are interested, that is.

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